“Why do you say that?”
“Didn’t you ever wonder why our grandfather had no time for Gervais? Why he and our grandmother were estranged? Why you Sinclairs all seem to have the same coloring and features yet my father doesn’t?” Galahad stared up at the group portrait and the golden cherub so at odds with every other face on the wall. “He was more of a bastard than anyone and knew it, too. Because his mother often told him the twenty-fifth Duke of Harpenden killed his real daddy in a duel.” The young man laughed. “It took a whole bottle of cognac to prize that juicy detail out of him. A waste of money now that I see it plain as day on these walls.”
As Galahad turned to leave, Giles caught his arm. “Stay for some tea. Meet the rest of the family.”
“Family?” For the first time his cousin looked baffled. “I thought we were two of the only three Sinclairs left?”
He recognized the hint of longing in the young man’s eyes. The buried need to belong somewhere, hidden beneath all the pride that masked the ache of being alone. Uncared for. Unloved. Lost. Lonely. Giles knew how that felt, too, and was glad he didn’t anymore.
“Well, they are my adopted family, really. At least they are until I can convince this harridan to marry me.” He grabbed Diana’s hand as he led his cousin to the door. “And all a pain in the backside just like her. Can you believe she intends to insist on a long courtship? It is as if she has no respect for my dukedom at all.”
“That is because I much preferred him as a baker’s son andhave no desire to be a duchess.” Diana threw open the door only to find Olivia listening at the keyhole, with Hugh, Minerva, and Jeremiah suddenly pretending they hadn’t been even though they were stood right behind.
Olivia, of course, was entirely unrepentant. “You probably should have thought about that before you allowed him to see you in the altogether, dear.” She skewered Giles with her glare. “Now that I take it that there are no outstanding impediments preventing you from doing the right thing, I shall expect you to do it with all haste.”
He squeezed Diana’s hand. “I’m game if you are.”
As the woman of his dreams blinked, Olivia was outraged. “With a proper proposal, Giles Sinclair.” She pointed to the floor. “Done in the proper way. At least pay some lip service to the expectations of propriety!”
It wasn’t exactly the circumstances he had envisioned for a proposal, but then again he had never envisioned being able to propose, and there was a sense of irony about the occasion that appealed to his sense of the ridiculous. So he took her hand and was in the process of going down on bended knee when another fist hammered on his door. Giles threw up his hands in despair.
“I don’t know anybody else, so who the bloody hell is it this time?”
Mrs. Townsend, who had thus far done a very good job of blending into the paneling, scurried to open it.
“I have an urgent message for Miss Diana Merriwell.” The courier guarded the missive to his chest when his housekeeper tried to take it. “It is for her eyes only.”
Dark brows furrowed, Diana tugged her fingers from his totake it, then grinned as she read the contents. “I was right! I knew I would be. My gut is never wrong.”
“What is it?”
She looked positively sinful as she undulated toward him like the cat who had got the cream. “Lady Caroline Derbyshire—or rather Sister Caroline—is alive and well and living in a nunnery in Kent. She is also happy to bear witness that a certain Gervais Guillaume Sinclair abducted her and tried to force her into a marriage in order to get his grubby hands on her dowry. I asked Charlie to check and he came up trumps.” She handed the letter to Galahad. “My gift to you, as I think you will enjoy giving him that bad news most of all.”
“Thank you—unless you want to come, too? Make it our first family outing.” Galahad grinned at her and then at the strangers who were eyeing him with interest. “After you’ve been proposed to, of course. Consider it an engagement present.”
All eyes swiveled to them and he saw the panic in her lovely eyes, and knew exactly why it was there.
“Diana Merriwell.” Giles dropped to his knees and stared deep into her eyes. “My Goddess of the Hunt, Hunter of the Truth, and Fearsome Kicker of Hornets—for some inexplicable reason I love you, and much to your chagrin, you love me, too. I know that scares you, and heaven only knows I don’t deserve you, but we both know that there is nobody else we would each like to spend eternity with and, quite frankly, nobody else who could stand us enough to want to. So marry me. Today… tomorrow… in twenty years if you feel I deserve to be tortured for that long. I do not care so long as you say yes.” He stood and tugged her into his arms so she could see his very soul. “Don’t overthink it, as we both know that yoursuspicious brain will only tie you in knots again. Trust your gut—you just said yourself that it is never wrong.”
He had her there and she knew it. “Grossly unfair, Giles Sinclair.”
“Alliteration and rhyme and all off the top of your head.” He kissed away the wrinkle between her furrowed brows. “Have I mentioned that I also adore your way with words?”
She offered him a begrudging smile but still couldn’t bring herself to say yes. “I hope you don’t expect me to ever behave like a duchess. Or behave at all, for that matter. Or curb my opinions or censor my tone. And I will not comply with any orders under any circumstances—even if you are right—because I shall always do what I think is best regardless.”
She was looking down her nose defiant, so he kissed it. “All I expect is you, Diana—why on earth would I want to change all the prickly, rebellious things I fell in love with?” He kissed her lips this time and smiled against them. “And I should like it noted that in return you have my solemn pledge to always be insufferable, to vex you, to tease you, distract you, and delight in telling you that I told you so—for as long as we both shall live. How does that sound?”
“Much to my complete disgust, all rather… tolerable.”
He kissed her properly and she melted against him. “And the long courtship?”
“There will be no more funny business until you have put a ring on my sister-in-law’s finger!” Hugh slapped his glove in his palm, intending to be menacing, but it had the opposite effect and they both giggled.
“Unnecessary.” Diana’s mouth brushed his again as if shecouldn’t get enough of it and did not care who saw it. “Especially if we follow Dalton to Gretna Green.”
“I like the sound of a clandestine marriage.” It felt fitting and right. “We could honeymoon in Scotland. Take a tour of the Highlands…”
“We could.” She smiled a little sheepishly as she straightened his lapels. “Or we could honeymoon in Bloomsbury. Only I overheard something peculiar at Lady Bulphan’s about a magistrate and it’s been niggling ever since…”
